


Lullaby

by hinamatsuri



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, IDOLiSH7 Flash Bang 2019, Iori is probably slightly OOC I apologize, M/M, Nightmares, uwu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-18 21:30:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20319805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hinamatsuri/pseuds/hinamatsuri
Summary: Songs were like remedies, at least to Iori. And those remedies only worked if a certain redhead sang them to him.





	Lullaby

It was a habit of theirs that they planned to last every day, for this habit to not be broken. It wasn’t much like a habit, but more like a promise.   
  
If the tales of the Little Mermaid was fictional, why did Iori encounter this fantasy in real life? If a real singing voice could not match up with one of the Little Mermaid, then what is he hearing right now? An illusionary tune that his mind has created? As far as he was concerned, his head was forced to rest down on a pair of thighs clothed with the soft felt of pyjamas. Red, to be exact. Coming from above, he could hear the graceful and soothing sounds of a young male singing softly to the tune of one of IDOLiSH7’s most famous songs: RESTART POiNTER. It was a slowed version of the song, matching up with the atmosphere that lingered across the room.   
  
It was dark and shaded with the night sky’s navy blue and black, with tints of the full moon’s light seeping across the curtains to shine a spotlight on the two males currently resting on the blood red-coloured bed.   
  
Iori had always described the voice he was listening to in as many positive adjectives as his mental dictionary held. Words like beautiful, precious, stunning, lustrous, and elegant filled his mind along with many other words brimming to the top of his list. And at the very top of that list read “makes shooting stars fall from the sky”.   
  
Iori held no doubt about it; Riku’s voice was extraordinary. Was he exaggerating? Maybe, since he’s heard a lot of angelic singing voices coming from his older brother’s mouth. It was debatable, but no other love could top the brotherly love he had for Mitsuki and the passionate and romantic love he had for Riku.   
  
When they started, Iori and Riku didn’t seem to think so highly of lullabies, and the younger one even retorted about how it was only a child’s thing and that nearly grown men shouldn’t be sung to sleep. But somehow, Iori got roped into Riku’s everlasting puppy dog eyes and his somewhat unintentional manipulative voice.   
  
It was almost evil; how the redhead is so capable of entrancing everyone through his voice and cuteness like a siren, how everyone would drop everything just to even hear Riku speak, and Iori caught himself being one of those people. He knew Riku doesn’t even realize it, but at least he can inform the older one just how extraordinary his voice was.   
  
The high school boy found himself in many places, being enraptured by his boyfriend’s compelling voice: softly cuddling in bed, arms locked around Riku’s fragile yet built body, or when he unwillingly falls asleep on the older one’s shoulder or lap after a lengthy day, a hand carding through his navy blue locks.   
  
This idea was never intentional in the first place, but it slowly developed into a habit to help Iori relax in times of stress. Riku would breathily sing parts of IDOLiSH7’s songs, and even their duet Fly Away or their respective 12 Songs Gift solo songs. Iori found bliss in those moments, treasuring every precious word slipping out of Riku’s mouth in a melodic phrase, making him fall in love with it more and more every minute.   
  
And now, as Iori’s head rested on the older one’s lap, a hand gracefully caressing his navy-blue hair, he truly wanted time to freeze, to keep this going forever and ever, as long as possible. But his eyes begged to differ.   
  
Slowly...they close...gently...but he must stay awake.   
  
Riku paused his singing to watch the younger one’s facial expressions from Iori’s reaction to his sleepiness.   
  
The redhead softly, breathily laughed, “Iori! You look cute for once!”   
  
“Don’t say such unnecessary things, Nanase-san.” Iori grumbled back tiredly. “And why did you stop singing? I did not remember ever telling you to pause.”   
  
Riku laughed once again, much clearer this time. “You’re so demanding!! So much for the spoiled younger sibling!!”   
  
“Brocon.”   
  
“I will stop singing!”   
  
“Then I will make you continue.”   
  
“When I agreed you can control me I didn’t mean everything!!”   
  
Iori chuckled, lifting his left hand up to gently caress Riku’s cheek, feeling the redhead’s face heat up.   
  
“But keep singing for me, understood? Your voice is our weapon after all.”   
  
Riku, who’s face burned as red a tomato, nodded slowly, leaning into the touch and continued to comb through Iori’s navy-blue locks and hum the sweet melody of their song.   
  
It was moments like these that they treasured deeply, and with just one note was Iori’s heart able to fly out of his chest.   
  
The younger one sat upright, letting go of his touch on Riku’s rosy pink cheeks, accompanied by a quiet, hummed whine from the older one from the loss of Iori’s soft touch.   
  
“Iori!! I wasn’t even finished yet...”   
  
Iori fought back with a lame excuse. “My arm was getting sore.”   
  
Riku pouted in response. “Isn’t it worth it to sacrifice your arm to hear my voice more??”   
  
Iori froze. The fact that Riku wasn’t even wrong in any way made him pause his train of thought, producing a blank stare he gave towards the floor.   
  
The redhead laughed at Iori’s delay, to which the younger one menacingly stared back at him in frustration. The worse came to be when Riku simply smiled brightly over Iori’s clear annoyance, empathizing how “so not cute” he was acting.   
  
Eventually, the younger one couldn’t help but break into a giggle.   
  
It was yet again frightening, knowing just how infectious the redhead’s emotions were upon others, especially to someone like Iori. The curved lips and cheerful tone never failed to leave rosy pink marks dusted over Iori’s cheeks, and despite the cuteness of his puppy-like frowns, he couldn’t help but feel guilt and pain with them too.   
  
Riku was plain evil, Iori came to that conclusion. He was like a monster, but a friendly one, one that looked cute, had the actions of an evildoer, but the intentions of an innocent bunny, which with that analogy made Iori stumble upon his own words.   
  
To put it simple, the redhead was the most blessed and cursed fate the younger one had stumbled upon, and he sure as hell was thankful for the gifted voice that whispers softly into his ear in any occasion.   
  
Such occasions differed many times, but misfortunately, the same scenario seemed to appear much more frequent than the others.   
  
That same scenario where Iori’s eyes shot up, straight in the middle of the night, body sticky and drenched in sweat, heat blazing around him with the addition of Riku’s embrace. His breaths were ragged, and throat completely dry.   
  
He felt needy of that same voice again, as rushing thoughts of what happened just under a minute ago replayed over and over again in his head like a tedious broken record player. Tears welled up in his eyes, but Iori tried his hardest to suck them back into their origin.   
  
He couldn’t bear to wake up the sleeping beauty next to him, but he also couldn’t bare to last longer without an angels voice filling his ears.   
  
Out of natural instinct, he shook the redhead awake, repeatedly calling out his name.   
  
“...Iori...? It’s late...” Riku mumbled, sitting upright and looking over the younger one with tiredness and concern.   
  
Iori failed to mimics Riku’s position, wrapping his right arm around the redhead’s hips and burying his tear-ridden face into his thighs. It surprised the redhead quite a bit, but the half-sleepiness most likely added onto Iori’s behaviour.   
  
“...What’s wrong Iori?” Riku whispered, stroking Iori’s navy-blue hair as the younger one quivered. He only responded with his head shaking.   
  
In moments like these, Riku was glad to have the ability to almost read Iori’s mind so perfectly, and without a second of doubt, he began to hum lowly to the tune of Fly Away!   
  
It was astonishing, how Iori was able to almost instantly calm down as he heard the first very few notes. The vibrations against Riku’s diaphragm began to sooth him, snuggling deeper into the redhead’s belly.   
  
In a matter of minutes, the song ended, leaving Riku to stop his hand being tangled in Iori’s hair. “...Better?”   
  
Iori hated to admit how these childish methods actually worked on him, how he was able to calm down with a simple lullaby that only children listened to. And although Iori may be the second youngest in the group, he despised admitting to being like a child to the fullest.   
  
Nonetheless, he was thankful for how captivating Riku’s voice was, leaving him no traces of memories from the vivid nightmare he had faced about five minutes ago.   
  
He nodded in delayed response to Riku’s question, granting back a smile on the redhead’s face. “I’m glad!” He exclaimed, “You can sleep now, right?”   
  
Iori wavered slightly, shortly before replying, “Of course...I think...Thank you, Nanase-san...” He smiled.   
  
It wasn’t until a little longer that the younger one had dozed off almost completely, arm securely wrapped around Riku’s waist as the latter shuffled himself back down to lay on the bed cuddled right in his chest, as he figured such a soft bundle of his sunshine held in his arms would make him tranquil.   
  
“Iori, sing a lullaby for me too, okay? I really love you’re voice!” Riku softly mumbled, fully aware of the younger one already may or may not have been asleep, poker faced as a sign showing his comfort.   
  
The redhead smiled one last time, snuggling deeper into Iori’s warm chest with the feeling of satisfaction of making his partner happy playing in his mind.   
  
Meanwhile, the prince of the so-called Little Mermaid had felt only the most peaceful dreams for the rest of the night, smiling brightly at his cute partner nuzzling into his chest the next morning.   
  
“No worries, I will sing for you too...” He whispered in a late response, pressing his lips against Riku’s exposed forehead before painting the look of happiness on his face as he watched the redhead continue to doze off.   
  
Iori had always thought lullabies were needless pieces of childhood, albeit the older Izumi still insisting he would sing to Iori back in their childhood. They weren’t necessary for a child to fall asleep, but can Iori call himself a child now, as he holds onto Riku like a lost teddy bear and smile still plastered on him like that of a child playing in the park? Maybe he can, but that’s not worth admitting anytime soon.   
  
Right now, all he focuses on is the soft breaths of his lover blowing onto Iori’s neck, and the steady rise of fall of the older one’s chest.   
  
In that moment, he knew how important lullabies were.   
  
And one day, he’ll reply back to Riku’s angelic voice with his own words, bringing the redheads wings sprout from his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the fanfic!! I was really glad to have worked with @_elkii and her amazing fanart for the collab!! Please check it out here!! https://twitter.com/_elkii/status/1163642931997265920?s=21 it’s super cute


End file.
